Shooter (Widescreen Edition)

Amazon.com

A movie that would not have been out of place in the run of paranoid-political thrillers of the 1970s, Shooter works an entertaining variation on the assassination picture. Mark Wahlberg, carrying over good mojo from The Departed, slides neatly into the character of Bob Lee Swagger, master marksman. Swagger has retreated from his duty as an off-the-books hired gun for the military, having become disillusioned with his government (switching on his TV at his remote mountain cabin, he mutters, "Let's see what kind of lies they're trying to sell us today."). Ah, but the government needs Swagger to scope out the location of a rumored attempt on the life of the president, so a shadowy government operative (Danny Glover) begs Swagger to use his sniper's skills to out-fox the assassin. From there--well, spoilers are not fair, since the movie has a few legitimate shocks and a very nice wrong-man scenario about to unfold.

A novel by the Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Stephen Hunter gives the movie a logical spine, even if the premise itself is the stuff of conspiracy theorists. Wahlberg gets support from Michael Pena, as a skeptical FBI agent; Kate Mara, as a trustworthy widow; and Ned Beatty, trailing along memories of Network, as a supremely cynical Senator. Along with the well-executed action sequences (the previously unreliable director Antoine Fuqua gets it in gear here), the movie includes a few potshots at the Bush administration. No, that doesn't put Shooter at the level of The Parallax View or All the President's Men, but it provides some tang along with the flying bullets. --Robert Horton

Beyond Shooter

More Sniper / Hit Man Movies on DVD
More DVDs with Mark Wahlberg
The Novel

Stills from Shooter (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews:

his best.......2007-09-14

I think this is wahlbergs best yet.Some people may not like the violence but other than that you can't flaw this movie. Good acting and directing and a story that didn't get boring. I am always for the underdog.

Great Action Adventure.......2007-09-13

Excellent storyline. Sadly, the political corruption is believeable. The characters were well portrayed and the story reminds us that sooner or later even if it's just one person, some one has to stand up and corruption has to be brought to light and justice served.

Great Film!!.......2007-09-12

Loved it! Action packed and full of suspense. Great chases and drama! A must see!

Anti-American Propaganda From Start to Finish.......2007-09-10

Anti-American propaganda so blatant it would make Michael Moore blush with shame, disguised as an action flick. Whoever thought this stuff would wash has a very, very low opinion of his audience. Just dreadful.

Action and Depth with a Moral.......2007-09-10

Without giving away any of the movie ~ This is the Italion Job meets Four Brothers. Not only is the movie action packed from snipers to explosions, into Federal Agents kidnapped for a coverup on an inocent Shooter ~ all the while a sadistic "puppet master" pulling strings in different departments. This Movie EASILY rivials any of the Bourne ;)

Average customer rating:

his best
Great Action Adventure
Great Film!!
Anti-American Propaganda From Start to Finish
Action and Depth with a Moral

Shooter (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Mark Wahlberg , Michael Peña , Danny Glover , Kate Mara , and Elias Koteas
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000Q6GUT8
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Amazon.com

Beyond Shooter

More Sniper / Hit Man Movies on DVD
More DVDs with Mark Wahlberg
The Novel

Stills from Shooter (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews:

his best.......2007-09-14

Great Action Adventure.......2007-09-13

Great Film!!.......2007-09-12

Loved it! Action packed and full of suspense. Great chases and drama! A must see!

Anti-American Propaganda From Start to Finish.......2007-09-10

Action and Depth with a Moral.......2007-09-10

The Pretender 2001 / The Pretender - Island of the Haunted

Average customer rating:

The Pretender 2001 and Island of the Haunted
Pretender Fan
Disappointed
Pretender TV Movies
Happy Fan!

The Pretender 2001 / The Pretender - Island of the Haunted
Starring: Michael T. Weiss , Andrea Parker , Patrick Bauchau , Jon Gries , and Harve Presnell
Director: Frederick King Keller
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000LC4Z8K
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Description

Disc 1 Side A: PRETENDER 2001 (Full Screen) Picking up where the television series left off, Jarod reunites with two old friends and unleashes some powerful Centre revelations. This film opens with a sequence that will allow it to be enjoyed by individuals who have not yet seen the TV series.

Disc 1 Side B: PRETENDER: ISLAND OF THE HAUNTED (Widescreen) Through a series of bizarre circumstances, Jarod and Miss Parker find themselves trapped together on a strange island in a life and death situation, out of which come some of the most important revelations about their pasts.

Customer Reviews:

The Pretender 2001 and Island of the Haunted.......2007-09-10

For any Pretender fan this is a must. I had no idea that these parts even exsited. Wow, it pulls all the info together and reveals so much about the center. The only bad side to watching Island of the Haunted is that you will likly never look at the seasons the same way when you rewatch them. Although it was worth it!!!!!! We loved it and enjoyed it 100%

Pretender Fan.......2007-09-02

The casting was superb. The acting great. The Pretender 2001 didn't answer any questions, only asked more. Island of the Haunted was stupid.

Disappointed.......2007-08-13

I have been a huge "Pretender" fan since the show first came out. (I have all the episodes on DVD) I couldn't wait to see / own the above. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed. If you're even considering buying this...even as a completion for your collection...save your money. It's not worth it.

Pretender TV Movies.......2007-08-11

My husband and I enjoyed these movies, they did answer a lot of questions for us, but left a few hanging. We think possibly for future TV movies, hopefully. Anyway, I would highly recommend these movies, especially if you are a Pretender fan.

Happy Fan!.......2007-08-09

I loved that they tied up some loose ends from the season finale. These are 2 great must see movies if you are a loyal Pretender fan!

Average customer rating:

Ephedrine in film form saying what most people think.
grrrrrreat
Wasn't a bad movie- great HDDVD...
One of the BEST HD titles available

Shooter [HD DVD]
Starring: Mark Wahlberg , Michael Peña , Danny Glover , Kate Mara , and Elias Koteas
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000QUEQBI
Release Date: 2007-07-31

Amazon.com

Beyond Shooter

More Sniper / Hit Man Movies on DVD
More DVDs with Mark Wahlberg
The Novel

Stills from Shooter (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews:

Ephedrine in film form saying what most people think........2007-09-02

The director of Shooter Antoine Fuqua knows how to cast and make some cool characters. Denzel Washington's Alonzo was great, when I think of Training Day I think of his character like I would Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs or Kathy Bates in Misery and they all deservedly got Oscar wins for those roles.

Now we have Mark Wahlberg who he casts in Shooter, the type of guy women want and men wanna be. Wahlberg has that it factor and knows how to play a tough guy whether it be in Fear, Basketball Diaries, Four brothers, or his latest Oscar nomination for The Departed. And I'm not saying that he's not well rounded he's shown us range in Boogie Nights and Three Kings to name some roles that stood out for me. But who better to play a bad blank (it's hard to not use swears in a review of a movie like this) Marine reckon scout sniper who's character's last name is actually swagger and Wahlberg has plenty of that.

Now to the Shooter, Swagger is on a sniper mission with a fellow soldier and they are left behind for dead, as the U.S. shouldn't be there anyway, hmm that sounds familiar, so far it's staying real. His friend is killed because of this and three years later we see Swagger in some remote log cabin with his dog and a long haircut, soon he is approached by men from our government to help assist in stopping the assassination of our president. He says some cool lines and says no but soon gets a model haircut in the mountains somehow and accepts the mission.

He ends up getting framed and the rest of the movie is a lot of action and gratuitousness which is not always believable but it's a fun and cool time.
The other part of this film which is believable at all times is Antoine Fuqua being subtle using things as a metaphor for our system in place now, and then eventually comes out and makes the statement, how we can have the sect. of Defense go on national television and say were invading a country for wmds when everyone knows it's for oil.

So to recap you get a good action film dealing with conspiracy and trying to show our flawed and corrupt system so perhaps adrenaline junkies going to see this get a little more to contemplate when coming out of the theater and perhaps sparking some debates amongst viewers. Along with some laughs and love interests an entertaining film from start to finish.

The HD DVD had a very good picture and sound. I've seen about 50 hd dvds now and this is in the upper class of picture quallity and sound.

grrrrrreat.......2007-08-16

Beautiful on my 360 HD-DVD player. Great contract, deep, rich blacks, awesome detail. Good story line and a great HD movie for any FPS gamer, or action movie fanatic.

Wasn't a bad movie- great HDDVD..........2007-08-06

The movie is pretty much what you would expect. It was pretty good. The HD-DVD picture is in fact- very good. A few soft areas but overall- great. No annoying grain/noise. The movie itself is a little "contrasty" so the dark areas are black; but that's a director thing. Great picture quality and the DD+ track is good. No DDTrue that I remember.

One of the BEST HD titles available.......2007-08-04

Everything about this movie was great, really good story line, excellent sound and picture quality. I recomend it to anyone who owns a HD DVD player.

Pokemon Season 1 Box Set - Indigo League

Average customer rating:

As good as cartoons get
As Seen on T.V.
Pokemon Maniac
gotta catch 'em all.
Happy in a box

Pokemon Season 1 Box Set - Indigo League
Starring: Rica Matsumoto , Ikue Ootani , Mayumi Iizuka , Yûko Kobayashi , and Yûji Ueda
Director: Masamitsu Hidaka , and Kunihiko Yuyama
Manufacturer: Viz Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000I0QLF0
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Amazon.com

Pokémon scored an immediate hit when it debuted on American TV in 1995: Adapted from a Gameboy game created by Satoshi Sajiri, the diminutive "pocket monsters" spawned a multibillion dollar franchise on both sides of the Pacific. The initial mania died down after a few years, but the games and the animated series and features have remained popular. Although it's unabashedly product-based and overly cute at times, Pokémon remains an agreeable children's entertainment that stresses friendship, perseverance, and good sportsmanship. The first broadcast season introduces the main characters and follows them through first part of the game in its original Red and Blue versions. Aspiring Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum must establish a bond with Pikachu, the ultra-cute, but initially recalcitrant "electric mouse." He leaves his home in Pallet Town and quickly befriends fellow-trainers Misty and Brock. As the trio wanders through forests and towns, Ash begins collecting Pokémon and fighting other trainers. (The fights are very tame: Pokémon faint when they're exhausted, but are never injured or killed.) The three friends also outwit inept comic villains of Team Rocket, Jesse, James, and Meowth. Ash gradually matures through his experiences: In episode 20, he learns self-sacrifice when he allows Butterfree, the first Pokémon he caught and trained, to find a mate and depart for their nesting grounds. The original motto, Pokémon Getto Daze! (Let's Get Pokémon!) became "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" and many fans are still trying to do just that, although the initial number of 151 Pokémon, has more than tripled over the years. (Unrated, suitable for all ages: cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon

Description

Enjoy the Pokémon story from the beginning! Meet our hero, Ash, in his hometown of Pallet Town where boys and girls are encouraged to begin their Pokémon journeys! Join the Indigo League in this special box set of 26 episodes from Season 1 of Pokémon!

Customer Reviews:

As good as cartoons get.......2007-08-11

This is a great first season to a great program that became a cultural institution. The first season of Pokemon, dubbed the "Indigo League", is available on DVD for the first time as a packaged season. Though the extras are scant (and if not for the extended "Poke-rap" would be non-existent) it does include many now-famous Pokemon episodes. It's also guaranteed to bring back memories of the early days, before the mass commercialization when the product was still new and interesting (though the series has been reinvigorated with the excellent "Diamond and Pearl" game).

Check it it out, you won't regret it.

As Seen on T.V........2007-08-07

The series has aged very, very well, much better than I expected. The bad puns and lame jokes are excellent, and the main characters, Ash, Misty, and Brock, are as enjoyable as ever. However, this is not a review of the Pokemon television show. This is a review of the dvd release of the Pokemon television show.

This box set does not actually contain season one. More accurately, it contains the first third of season one, the "first" 26 episodes of the approximately 80 episodes of the Indigo League. The quotes are there because the lost/banned episode, "Beauty and the Beach", is not included. Which is, to say the least, somewhat odd. I thought this release was for twentysomethings like me who watched the show when they were ten, as opposed to children whose mothers would be offended by James' breasts.

Season semantics and aborted episodes aside, this is an extremely bare bones release. You are buying exactly what you saw on TV. There is nothing but the 26 episodes in dubbed english. No japanese audio with subtitles. I am sorry anime nerds, you cannot enjoy the "correct" voices. Personally, I wanted to know what the original lame jokes were. (Cowterpie, what?) There are actually no subtitles whatsoever, not even english subtitles of the english dub. I like putting on subtitles so I don't miss any dialogue due to laughing and such, so this was another disappointment.

The final disappointment is the quality. My inital hypothesis was that they directly transfered some home vhs recordings to dvd. However, that is not the case. For one, the audio quality is too consistent, at least within individual episodes. Some are slightly louder/softer than others. The difference is not dramatic, just noticable and annoying. For two, they actually made the video WORSE in some places. Routinely, when there would be flashing lights, or indeed fast animation of any kind, the frame rate drops to awful. Not just a little slower to reduce seisure risk, but like 2 frames per second. Of course, it may always have been that bad and I just don't remember it. It's still painful to watch, though.

In summary, ViZ should be ashamed of themselves for releasing such a poor, half-baked collection. (The full Pokerap is on each disc, but there isn't even a menu option to play it!) The box set contains the first 26 episodes of the Pokemon anime released in america. The set fails so hard on all the details that I wonder how I paid money for it, but again, the box set contains the first 26 episodes of the Pokemon anime released in america.

Whether that is worth your money is up to you.

Pokemon Maniac.......2007-08-06

I have to admit, Pokemon rules! I was getting a reward so I picked this. I loved it, Pikachu, Ash, Misty , everything! It was one of my best rewards ever! What I do not like is if you want to skip a little bit foward to skip the theme song, it goes back to the episode you just saw and Pilup my favorite Pokemon ever is not is this season! Still I absolutly LOVE this set! Go Pikachu!

gotta catch 'em all........2007-06-29

wow. i havent seen pokemon since 1998. its been almost ten years and pokemon is still goin strong. with this dvd, new fans can watch what ash's first adventure took place. this dvd set is a throwback to the oldschool pokemon. im surprised that pokemon still holds up pretty well today. if you were a fan of pokemon back then, then you'll love this dvd set. if you're a new fan, then it doesn't hurt to watch what started it all.

by the way, wheres box set 2? this is only box set 1. there was over 80 episodes of the indigo league.

anyways, this is highly recommended for all ages.

Happy in a box.......2007-05-31

The happiness this box set brought me is unspeakable. I stumbled upon it on accident and had no idea they had even put a box set out. Its such a deal too. I had seen dvds each containing a few episodes running 25 bucks a pop! I love this set so much. It reminds me of watching pokemon back when it first came out.

The only downside is there are a lot more episodes that you have to wait for. hopefully they will release the next set soon!!!

Riddick Trilogy (Pitch Black/ The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury/ The Chronicles of Riddick)

Average customer rating:

NBC Universal is a joke.
Best buy, IMHO
Well done science ficition
awesome awesome awesome
Now we need a pre- and post-Riddick trilogy...

Riddick Trilogy (Pitch Black/ The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury/ The Chronicles of Riddick)
Starring: Vin Diesel , Colm Feore , Thandie Newton , Judi Dench , and Karl Urban
Director: David Twohy , and Peter Chung
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EQHXN2
Release Date: 2006-05-30

Amazon.com

Pitch Black
Owing a major debt to Alien and its cinematic spawn, Pitch Black is a guilty pleasure that surpasses expectations. As he did with The Arrival, director David Twohy revitalizes a derivative story, allowing you to forgive its flaws and submit to its visceral thrills. Under casual scrutiny, the plot's logic crumbles like a stale cookie, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.

A spaceship crashes on a desert planet scorched under three suns. The mostly doomed survivors include a resourceful captain (Radha Mitchell), a drug-addled cop (Cole Hauser), and a deadly prisoner (Vin Diesel) who quickly escapes. These clashing personalities discover that the planet is plunging into the darkness of an extended eclipse, and it's populated by hordes of ravenous, razor-fanged beasties that only come out at night. The body count rises, and Pitch Black settles into familiar sci-fi territory.

What sets the movie apart is Twohy's developing visual style, suggesting that this veteran of B-movie schlock may advance to the big leagues. Like the makers of The Blair Witch Project, Twohy understands the frightening power of suggestion; his hungry monsters are better heard than seen (although once seen, they're chillingly effective), and Pitch Black gets full value from moments of genuine panic. Best of all, Twohy's got a well-matched cast, with Mitchell (so memorable with Ally Sheedy in High Art) and Diesel (Pvt. Caparzo from Saving Private Ryan) being the standouts. The latter makes the most of his muscle-man role, and his character's development is one more reason this movie works better than it should. --Jeff Shannon

Dark Fury - The Chronicles of Riddick (Animated)
Taking a page from The Animatrix, Dark Fury is part of a new trend of bridging theatrical sequels. As an official product of a franchise, the 35-minute anime benefits from having the original actors voice the characters, including Vin Diesel as Riddick. This story opens with the new action hero and the two other survivors of Pitch Black already caught by a giant spaceship filled with dread. The sinewy leader has a unique--and creepy--jail for master villains and she has her sights set on Riddick. The film--indeed the series--is indebted to animator Peter Chung, who brings his techno style from his Aeon Flux series. His smooth animation for Riddick doesn't reinvent the character as much as give him a new, appealing fluidity. As anime goes, there's nothing really new here--plenty of action, cool killers, and dramatic spurts of blood--but it's a building block for how this genre might enliven movie series and sequels in the future. --Doug Thomas

Description

Journey to a remote, hostile planet with a group of marooned passengers who learn that escaped convict Riddick isn't the only thing they have to fear in Pitch Black. Then, see him battle ruthless soldiers of fortune and vicious creatures in renowned animator Peter Chung's The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury. And finally, Riddick finds himself humanity's unlikely champion in the special effects-fueled The Chronicles of Riddick. Join Riddick in three times the action, three times the adrenaline and three times the adventure as the Riddick Trilogy makes complete one of the greatest sci-fi epics of all time!

Customer Reviews:

NBC Universal is a joke........2007-09-14

These are three really bad movies. If it shows anything, it is that NBC/Universal wants to make money, and they will make the very worst products to do it, wither it is this, or the political trash they do on MSNBC.

Best buy, IMHO.......2007-09-10

...cause it costs only 9.99 and includes all three movies. That's good. And plenty of addons... that's also good.

Well done science ficition.......2007-08-03

The third movie is production wise the best for me, but all 3 are for lovers of action movies a la alien, matrix, etc...

awesome awesome awesome.......2007-07-09

I finally got around to seeing "Chronicles" on cable, not being a big Diesel fan, and loved it. So I picked up this collection, and it's great plain great.

Now we need a pre- and post-Riddick trilogy..........2007-06-05

This big winners in this series were Crematoria, Elementals, the Under-verse, Necros, and Riddick as a surviving Furyan. Anything that helped in understanding these five essential elements of the Riddick Trilogy were greatly appreciated. The rest was just...entertaining.

I watched and read The Chronicles of Riddick (III) before watching Pitch Black, although I had read the book Pitch Black. The Chronicles was a better film than Pitch Black, but I know Pitch Black helped make sense of some of The Chronicles. There were a number of ah-ha moments... Riddick's relationship with the Imam and "Jack", why he is on the run, "Jack's" statements that were repeats of what she learned and heard in Pitch Black, and more.

Dark Fury is an animated short that really does a number of neat, but non-essential things: introduces Toombs the merc, demonstrates Riddick's fighting abilities, and explains the tightness of him, Imam, and Jack.

The Chronicles of Riddick (III) was great. As I mentioned, the concept of and cinematography "on" Crematoria was worth the price of the movie.

There's what is missing. We really need to know more about the pre-Pitch Black portion of Riddick's life. What was Furya really like... a futurist Sparta? And then, given that Riddick got to "keep what he kills," what does he do with the Necros when he becomes Lord Marshall? What happens to their search for the Under-verse?

Oh, right... this is fiction, science-fiction. But I still want to know what happens next!

Average customer rating:

amazing godzilla action
Godzilla, the Last Kaiju Standing
Godzilla's Evolution
Godzilla: Final Score
More like "Godzilla: Extended Cameo"

Godzilla - Final Wars
Starring: Don Frye , Masakatsu Funaki , Masatô Ibu , Shigeru Izumiya , and Rei Kikukawa
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BMY2L0
Release Date: 2005-12-13

Description

Godzilla's 50th Anniversary project and costliest adventure to date out of 28 films. Earth has been relatively peaceful since Godzilla was successfully buried deep in ice beneath the South Pole. Then - sometime a few years hence-several of his old nemeses return to wreak havoc on cities worldwide. A huge spaceship suddenly appears and neutralizes all the monsters in a blink. The visitors are "Xiliens," who take human form and announce they would like to negotiate a peace treaty that would replace the United Nations with a "United Universe". They are indeed too good to be true, however. It doesn't take long before their nefarious real purpose is exposed - conquering Earth. Greatly outmatched, Earth officials decide to de-freeze Godzilla as man's only hope to vanish the invaders, as well as the monsters they control. Only trouble is Godzilla is still mad at man for freezing him in the first place.

Customer Reviews:

amazing godzilla action.......2007-09-14

this is an awesome godzilla movie. everyone shows up and the fights are awesome. you need to see this, anyone who has not seen this and loves godzilla.... you must watch this!

Godzilla, the Last Kaiju Standing.......2007-08-25

The film can be viewed with original japanese language or american dubbed. It is good that Sony pictures gives the viewer that option.

Extras include: -previews of other Godzilla films that are available
(mostly from the "Millenium" series)

The battle scenes are enjoyable but some of the Godzilla pairings against other monsters is short and disappointing ie., Godzilla vs. American Godzilla, Godzilla vs. giant insect(forgot name)-looks like a wasp/bee to name a few. The movie concentrates an awful lot on the xliens than the monsters and their battles itself. This may be disappointing to fans who really want to see more of the kaijus.

The fighting sequences between the mutants-persons who posess the "M" gene and later the lead mutant character against the xliens and their eventual leader appear to be very "matrixy." These subplots detract from the main feature-our beloved kaijus.

All in all, "Final Wars" is a very entertaining, no holds bar, out with a bang ending for Godzilla. Until 2012 that is...

Godzilla's Evolution.......2007-08-24

Having seen ALL of 'G's movies, I have come to accept Final Wars for what it is, The sign of the times, a new generational era, Matrix, Mutants, CGI's, (computer generated images) loud heavy metal sound tracks. I enjoyed final wars, but I was looking for Closure!! a fitting end to 50 years of pure enjoyment, excitement and mesmorizing entertainment. We must always remember the 4 men who were responsible for 25 of the 30 Godzilla films. 1- Inoshiro Honda (Director & Scripts), 2- Eiji Tsuburaya (Special Effects Master) 3- Akira Ifukube (Musical Genius) 4- Tomoyuki Tanaka (Head of Toho Studios) last but not least 'New Yorks Titra Sound Studios' responsible for Dubbing and voices". The aforementioned ensemble exists No More. May they all rest in peace, Final Wars is a product of Japans 'Hollywood' young film makers catering and reaching out to their movie going patrons, We baby boomers should accept & embrace this new artistic expression that allows the 'Greatest' movie monster ever conceived to continue to be apart of our lives, our childrens lives and our grand children's lives. Thank you Toho for a wonderful 50 years of treasured memories. Godzilla deserves a rest, and perhaps in 10 years or so the saga will begin again. 'Godzilla Final Wars' was a good starting point for my grand kids. I hope to be around to watch many more 'G' films with them.

Godzilla: Final Score.......2007-08-20

In 2004, it was announced by Toho, that yet again, they would be retiring their famous star monster, Godzilla. Fans such as I were disappointed, but excited to hear that big shot director of Versus Ryuhei Kitamura would be helming the film, which would have the biggest budget of any previous Godzilla film, with an all star monster cast. It looked as if Godzilla was gonna go out with a bang. Godzilla: Final Wars was meant to be a collage to all previous films, especially the showa era. While it had some good concepts, the film kind of let me down. It is a decent enough pic, but wasn't good enough to be the final godzilla film...

NEGATIVES:
First off the biggest problem with the film was that Kitamura didn't seem to understand that this is a KAIJU film, not an action/martial arts film. There is far too much human action. Yeah it was cool, and in limited amounts it would have been find. But it was far too excessive. There seems to be more human fighting than monster fighting, and i often find myself having to fast forward through it to get to the good parts. Secondly, some of the simple matte shot effects look like they were done in the 60's. They are of such poor grade. It's disappointing. Also, this film brought back some of the camp (notably the whirling noise effect in the new york scene when the cop and gangsters hats blow off). This movie had the chance to show that godzilla was more than just campy cheesy sci fi and real entertainment. Also, the monster battles are so short. Especially Hedorah, who doesn't even fight Godzilla. I was most excited to see Hedorah, one of my favorite monsters return, and was sad that he got about 2 seconds of screen time. How is it that one of Godzilla's toughest opponents is killed so easily?

POSITIVES:
We get a ton of classic showa monsters, an international approach at Godzilla, Anguirus!, an awesome new monster, a creative updated approach at King ghidorah, an awesome performance from the actor who played The young lead Xian, a return of the Xians, awesome monster choreography, Don Frye has a cool character, cool style, three veteran showa actors, Updated monster designs.

As you can probably tell, the movie unfortunately is outweighed by the negatives. The movie had so much potential, but was a great let down. While I respect Kitamura as a director, I just don't think he was right for the film. They probably should have just brought back Kaneko, our modern day Ishiro Honda. It's really too bad...

More like "Godzilla: Extended Cameo".......2007-08-13

A funny thing happened a few years ago: Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin made a big-budget "re-imagining" of the 1954 Japanese classic, "Gojira." It made $400 million dollars at the box office, and yet a few years later, if you ask 80% of internet fanboys about it, they'll scream and whine about how "It's not really Godzilla," "It sucks! Man in suit forever!" or "It's Godzilla in name only!". And if you even hint that you might slightly LIKE the movie, they will tear you a new one.

So it's quite funny that a few years later, Toho decides to send the franchise back into hibernation with "Godzilla Final Wars." Despite what you may have read, this isn't really a Godzilla movie, or at least no more so than the 1998 re-imagining was. Godzilla is in it, sure, but it's not his movie. The movie is actually about a unit of elite genetically enhanced soldiers who have to wage battle against evil aliens, who concoct a James Bond-esque plot that somehow involves giant monsters instead of having their finger on a button. It's true that there are A LOT of monster battles in this movie, but unfortunately, they're all crammed into a montage that lasts all of five minutes.

No, the real bulk of the action scenes in the movie are centered around the super soldiers. And for what they are, they are very cool. Ryuhei Kitamaura definately knows how to assemble a good action scene involving HUMANS, no matter how ridiculous in concept they may be, and that is where the movie truly shines. It's just a shame that the monster battles, which are supposed to be the highlight of a Godzilla film, end up getting completely overshadowed by the battles featuring the human stars. While the human action scenes are fast, energetic, and acrobatic, the monster battles are for the most part slow and hokey just as they would be in any run-of-the-mill Godzilla film, which is a disappointment coming from an action director. It's as if Kitamaura just wanted to make a sci-fi karate movie, and the only way he could get the budget for one was by going through the Godzilla franchise.

In all, if you go into Godzilla Final Wars expecting a derivative chop socky sci-fi movie with really flashy martial arts fights, you'll get what you came for. But if you are one of those internet fanboys who called the American re-imagining an abomination, you should by all means despise this with almost as much mis-directed passion. Personally, I'll take both films for what they are-- decent, but flawed action flicks that don't really go out of their way to re-capture what made the first 'Zilla flick special. Grab some popcorn, unplug your brain, and don't expect to see much of big G, and you might just enjoy yourself. But remember, this is a Matrix-wannabe action movie first, and a monster movie last.

If you really want the best Godzilla movie of the past 10 years, go and get the newest version of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. That movie actually had some great new ideas in it, and has just about everything that make a good Kaiju film. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it over Final Wars if you just want to see a recent Godzilla movie.

Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery

Average customer rating:

MORE INFORMATION
Wonderfully sweet relationship movie.
Good mystery - well acted.
this is the second need to see third man out to get soem of it
Mystery and love for everybody!

Shock to the System: A Donald Strachey Mystery
Starring: Chad Allen , Sebastian Spence , Michael Woods , Daryl Shuttleworth , and Morgan Fairchild
Director: Ron Oliver
Manufacturer: Regent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000K2V7EG
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Description

(Gay Thriller) When private eye Donald Strachey finds his latest client dead, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Strachey's investigation leads him on a dark and dangerous trail into the world of "gay conversion therapy" - a twisted mix of psychology and religion designed by a doctor to turn homosexuals "straight." Based on the best-selling series of novels by Richard Stevenson

Customer Reviews:

MORE INFORMATION.......2007-08-15

"Shock to the System" is a splendid Mystery/Detective presentation that is splendidly acted and directed. As a follow-up to "Third Man Out" it certainly answers some questions that I had while viewing "Third Man Out" (e.g., what is Starchey's "story" before he became a Detective?--a soldier that fell in love with another soldier and suffered the ramifications thereof)

The casting in this film is superb. Chad Allen is so very great as Detective Donald Starchey and so is Sebastian Spence as his partner. They are very believable as a very contented and happy couple. Morgan Fairchild gives a wonderful performance as a rather unhappy mother of the murdered gay son that is trying to blame "those gays" for her son's murder. I'm so very glad that the casting people brought back the little fired hotel Desk Clerk from the first episode as Starchey's office manager; he brings some "comic relief" to the story--plus he's "easy on the eyes".".(The scene when he first meets Starchey's partner is hysterical.)

The bottom line is that I truly loved "Shock to the System"; god, it is so good.

By the way do look at the cast interviews and the director's comments under Special features" they are very enlightening!

Wonderfully sweet relationship movie........2007-08-15

I adore the connection between Donald and Timmy. The action and mystery are well done, and provide a wonderful accompaniment to them.

Good mystery - well acted........2007-07-08

I watched this movie with no idea what to expect. For those curious, the gay aspect it minimal. It is part of the plot, but there aren't "skin" scenes. The plot is well constructed and Chad Allen is quite convincingly strong as the detective. It's nice to see a detective story where the detective isn't omnipotent. Why 4 stars? Hey, I figured the plot twist out before the final reel. I find this more a murder mystery than a gay murder mystery, but others may thrill at the nudity that's there.

this is the second need to see third man out to get soem of it.......2007-07-08

this is a maivie that fills in some of the things that were left out in the firts movie but helps ou get a better understanign of the characters and see what can be hidden from the inner mind of e veryone

Mystery and love for everybody!.......2007-06-13

I loved "Third Man Out", the first Donald Strachey Mystery movie and this one is even better. The great thing about "Shock To The System" is that the characters are more developed, especially Donald. You get to know him better and in the scene when he tells Timmy about the Army (I can't give details) you feel and cry with him. Chad Allen is a excellent actor but in that particular scene he is simply superb.

I love murder mystery either on film or in books and "Shock To The System" is a great film for those like me who love this genre. But what truly caught my heart is Donald and Timmy's relationship... they are adorable together! This movie is MUST for cute-couple-suckers like me... you can't get wrong with these guys!!!

Average customer rating:

The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
Classic
The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
a natural antidepressant
The Man With the Power

The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
Starring: Cary Grant , Myrna Loy , Shirley Temple , Rudy Vallee , and Ray Collins
Director: Irving Reis , and Tex Avery
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001WTWRY
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Description

Through no fault of his own, artist and lady's man Richard Nugent finds a love-besotted teenage girl curled on his sofa. Through no fault of his own, the teen's sister is a judge who "sentences" thunderstruck Richard to date the girl until her schoolgirl crush wanes. Circumstances aren't kind to Richard. But they certainly are hilarious when Cary Grant plays Richard, Myrna Loy is the judge and Shirley Temple is the teen.

Customer Reviews:

The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer.......2007-09-13

Loved it! Cary Grant does comedy well. I was glad to finally get the movie on DVD

Classic.......2007-08-27

This is such a great movie. Cary Grant is wonderful in it. I love watching it on the old movie station and it's even better now that I can pause it and replay.

The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer.......2007-08-20

Very funny! Myrna Loy and Cary Grant at their best and a
great chance to see Shirley Temple as a teenager.

a natural antidepressant.......2007-08-17

As the daughter of a former bobby soxer, I know from a primary source that this farcical comedy accurately portrays teenagers of the 1940s in their sex crazed but properly clad glory (the kids in this movie are so much cuter than the horrendous examples of adolelence teenagers get today; dig the penny loafers and pleated skirts). Also, Cary Grant's unparalleled flair for physical comedy is on full display here. Lastly, his chemistry with the wonderful, witty and beautfiful Myra Loy keeps the story moving to its happy, rightful ending (boy gets woman, not girl!). I watch this movie whenever I feel down--it never fails to cheer.

The Man With the Power.......2007-06-14

"The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer is from 1947, a year that left behind some pretty good films, "Gentlemen's Agreement," "A Double Life," "Great Expectations," "Body and Soul," "Black Narcissus," "The Farmer's Daughter," "Mother Wore Tights," "Green Dolphin street," "The Bishop's Wife" and "Miracle on 34th Street." All in all, not a bad year, although it does seem strange to me that with all those choices, it was this amusing but innocuous little comedy that won the Oscar for the best original screenplay.

This is one of the movies in which Shirley Temple attempted to make the transition from adorable moppet to young woman--well, to teenager, at least. Shirley is not bad, she has a couple of good scenes, as a matter of fact, but it is easy to see why she never made it as an adult movie star. The moppet mannerisms were too ingrained in her acting technique and persona. Every so often, she looks like a seven year-old somehow trapped in a sixteen year-old body. (She was nineteen at the time.)

The movie is one of the later successes of the screwball comedy era (I suppose 1952's "Monkey Business" also with Grant was the last), but it is slowed and softened by the home, mom and apple pie mind-set of the post-War era. Nevertheless, a cast that included Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Rudy Vallee (surprisingly good in a part that would normally have been assigned to Ralph Bellamy), solid, stolid, familiar Ray Collins and what appears to be about half of the dear, nameless but familiar faces of the Hollywood repertory company, would have been able to spin far less promising material into finest gold.

Archie Leech had honed his Cary Grant creation to perfection and hauled him out in memorable vehicles twice in 1947: here in this film and in even more glistening form in "The Bishop's Wife." As one memorable passage from "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer" that swept over the school halls of the day had it:

You remind me of a man.
What man?
The man with the power.
What power?
The power of the hoodoo.
Who do?
You do.
I do what?
You remind me of a man.

Five stars for the man with the power of the hoo-doo.

Average customer rating:

RIDDICK RETURNS BETTER THAN BEFORE!!!
A Late Review For One of My Favorites
RIDDICK
Riddickulous
What a painful movie

The Chronicles of Riddick [HD DVD]
Starring: Vin Diesel , Colm Feore , Thandie Newton , Judi Dench , and Karl Urban
Director: David Twohy
Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000E1ZK4Q
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Customer Reviews:

RIDDICK RETURNS BETTER THAN BEFORE!!!.......2007-09-07

it's hard for a sequal to get anywhere near as good as the first one, or in some cases surpass it as well. well this one almost did for me. pitch black and the chronicles of riddick are both so different, but are still along the same lines. the chronicles was very good, i didn't think it was going to be such a big deal, but i'm glad i was wrong. vin diesel, does what he does best. the big action hero, with an "i don't care about anybody but myself" attitude returns for some more. he's a great actor, and these are the kinds of movies he should do, because all eyes are on him the whole time. the follow up story was good as well. a few years later he's back and only he can save the world. he meets up with an old friend, and together they must beat this leader of the half dead necromongers. he finds love, but at what a cost. in the end good must prevail over evil. great movie, fantastic scenes, and riddick does it again. i want more.

A Late Review For One of My Favorites.......2007-08-24

At the outset I will admit that I am really late with this review of this movie. I won't go into all the detail about the movie, as there has been many others who have already done that. What I can tell you is that this is the kind of movie that people either really love or really hate.

If you are expecting a completely fast paced action movie, this is not that kind of movie. If you are expecting part 2 to be exactly like Pitch Black, this is not that kind of movie. What this movie is would be best summed up as a continuation of the lives of the 3 characters who survived the events of Pitch Black. I liked it as a sequel as it didn't get into revisiting the alien planet, but instead you now see what the universe from this time period is like. You also see more of what drives the characters as they interact with each other.

I had a friend who didn't like this film mainly because he wanted them to go back to the alien planet from Pitch Black. He essentially wanted them to do the Alien and Aliens franchise. Based on Pitch Black doing something like that would have made no sense. So I for one am glad that they did not try to remake Aliens. I like the idea of taking the same characters and continuing on, since it is more realistic that their lives would not revolve around a planet where the aliens would only come out when it was night.

I liked this movie as an adventure more than just an action movie. Thus the additional scenes in the Director's Cut seem to explain things that wouldn't make sense without the additional 15 minutes that were added. I never saw the theatrical release, but based on the director's commentary the missing scenes really helped the movie. I also liked the special effects with the environments, since they looked really good and played into the mood of the movie. I also felt that this movie was more character driven and was also similar to the Greek tragedies. This is especially true in the context of Riddick not really being a typical good guy, but more of an anti-hero.

Some people say they didn't like the movie because it had no plot. To each their own, but I felt it had more plot than Pitch Black. I liked Pitch Black, but I wouldn't want to see a part 2 with the same Aliens and the same planet. Also, Chronicles to me had various plot elements found in Greek tragedies. It also can related to those who study Roman history as the Necromongers almost resemble elements of the Roman army. Also, this is a sci-fi movie so when people say certain parts of the movie are unbelievable, the question becomes how many sci-fi movies are actually believable?

You may have to rent the Chronicles of Riddick, Dark Fury cartoon in order to transition from Pitch Black to the Chronicles of Riddick. There are events that are somewhat explained in Dark Fury that help understand this movie. There is also a video game called Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay that explains things for both Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick.

I have watched this movie a number of times and I still enjoy watching it with the slow build up to the main point of the movie. This may not work for everyone, but it really did for me. I felt myself feeling connected to the characters, even the bad ones. The last fight scene is interesting in that it is different in terms of execution from typical action movies i.e. good guy mops the floor with bad guy for most of the fight. Watch it and see how Riddick transitions from being the one in control, to not having control, and at the very end gaining more control than he expected at a heavy price.

I really hope they make another Chronicles of Riddick. This type of movie has the potential to do a number of additional films or such.

RIDDICK.......2007-08-19

I must confess, this movie is a guilty pleasure. I mean just to see Diesel and the great Judy Dench in the same sceen is worth the DVD purchase. This movie is very well done, the special effects are first rate and the story is fascinating. I had not seen Pitch Black so i was a bit lost at first, but the movie gets you up to speed quickly. I didnt go into this movie expecting much, so i was shocked at how well i liked it. The DVD extras are good, they explain some of the back ground on the characters and locations, which i appreciated, because the movie moves fast. Highly recommended, especially if your into sci fi, though frankly if you are, you've probably seen this movie a million times, verdad?

Riddickulous.......2007-08-13

If you're looking for a truly entertaining and well developed sci-fi movie, watch Pitch Black, the first movie in this series. The first film explores an alien world with lethal creatures and pits survivers of a crashed space ship against them and one another. Great characters, visuals, and story. Chronicles doesn't hit even close to the high marks of the first film.

Chronicles can most easily be summed up as a brainless sci-fi action adventure popcorn flick. Even the impressive visuals cannot save this film with its sub-par acting, bad dialogue and terrible story. It's just too over the top and ridiculous, and if you don't feel that way by the time Riddick & crew are running from the scorching sunlight on Crematoria, then there is just no use debating films with you.

This movie might have had a chance if they had just left out the whole Crematoria story arc completely and just focused on New Mecca instead. But even then it would probably have been average at best. All in all, very disappointing.

What a painful movie.......2007-07-23

I saw Pitch Black in the theaters when it came out, and was blown away by the character development and story, I thought it was the best sci-fi movie since Alien. Intelligent and engaging, two words that can never describe this mess.

This movie is so painful to watch in light of the superior Pitch Black. A clunky storyline, with some of the most embarrassing lines ever to stain a movie. The FX is very good most of the time, but good FX does make for a good movie.

The "plot" has been rehashed over and over so I will spare you. Riddick was a very interesting character before this movie. In this movie, he is turned into a shallow superhero with a bad attitude. Yeah, I know he changed at the end of Pitch Black because of "the captain", but this is not the same character at all.

If you are in the mood for a mindless action flick, this will probably serve you well. If you want a well written, interesting movie, look elsewhere.

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